The treatment of pain, in particular neuropathic pain, is of great importance in the field of medicine. There is a worldwide need for effective methods of treating pain. The urgent need for action for patient-oriented and purposeful treatment of chronic and non-chronic pain conditions, this being taken to mean the successful and satisfactory treatment of pain for the patient, is also documented in the large number of scientific papers which have recently appeared in the field of applied analgesics and fundamental research work on nociception.
A suitable starting point for treating pain, in particular neuropathic pain, is the vanilloid receptor, subtype 1 (VR1/TRPV1), which is frequently also referred to as the capsaicin receptor. Said receptor is stimulated inter alia by vanilloids such as capsaicin, heat and protons and is central to the generation of pain. In addition, it plays a significant role in a large number of further physiological and pathophysiological processes, such as migraine; depression; neurodegenerative diseases; cognitive diseases; states of anxiety; epilepsy; coughs; diarrhoea; pruritis; cardiovascular system disorders; eating disorders; medicine dependency; medicine abuse and in particular urinary incontinence.